Growing Pickles

Problem Scenario

How will a pickle grow bigger?

Broad Question

How can I make my cucumber bigger?

Specific Question

Does pickling time effect the size of cucumber?

Hypothesis

I think the longer the cucumber sits in vinegar, the smaller it gets

Graph of Hypothesis

Variables

Independent Variable:

Time

Dependent Variable:

Size of Pickle

Variables That Need To Be Controlled:

Vinegar,amount of vinegar

Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

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General Plan

I will conduct my experiment at home so I can take have more time and check the pickles whenever I want. I will be timing how long pickles will be in vinegar.
It will take me approximately 5 days.

Potential Problems And Solution

One problem is that the pickles may go bad but I will not be eating them so it will not effect it. If the bad pickles did effect the vinegar, I would put more in and buy new pickles. I have to put them in the shade so the vinegar does not evaporate.

Safety Or Environmental Concerns

One of the safety concerns I have is if I use glass jars they could break and hurt people so I will use plastic cups instead. Another safety concern I have is my dog could eat them and get sick so I will put up high

Experimental Design

What is your experimental unit?

Five Pickles

Number Of Trials:

1

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

15

Number of Observations:

15

When data will be collected

March 2, 2013

Where will data be collected?

In my garage

Resources and Budget Table

Item	Number needed	Where I will get this	Cost
Cucumbers	15	Shaws
Vinegar	2liter	Shaws
cups	5		n/a

Detailed Procedure

First you will need 5 pickles, five(same size) cups filled with vinegar, a measuring tape, and a safe place to put the cups. Second, you will measure the length, diameter and width of the pickles and write it on the note sheet. Third you will fill the cups up halfway with vinegar. Put sticky notes on each cup saying Day One up too Day Five. You will then wait and take notes on the certain pickle every day. At the end record if they grew or not and see if the hypothosis is correct.

Diagram

Photo List

(see photos)

Time Line

• It will take me 2 days to collect my supplies
• It will take me a day to set up my lab at school
• I will start my on February 11, 2013
• I will be done recording on February 16, 2013
• I will analyze my data on February 19, 2013
• It will take me 5 days to write my discussion
• It will take me 2-3 weeks to complete the poster

Data Table

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Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Graphs

Photos

Results

In the experiment pickles were put in vinegar on day 1. After day one the first pickle did not grow or shrink. After day two,it did not grow either.
After day three, the first change happened, the pickle shrunk a whole centimeter. On day four, the fourth pickle shrunk 1.1 centimeters. The fifth pickle shrunk 1.5 centimeters. From these results I concluded that pickling time does effect the size of the cucumber.

Conclusion

Does pickling time effect the size of the cucumber. The answer is yes. The results show that the longer the cucumber is in vinegar the smaller it will get. After the first day the pickle did not change, same with the second day. On the third day the pickle shrunk one centimeter. On the forth day the pickle shrunk 1.1 centimeters. That right there proves the longer you put the cucumber in vinegar, the smaller it will get.

Discussion

In the experiment there was a pattern which was the longer the pickle sat in vinegar the smaller it got. The independent variable (time) and dependent variable (size of pickle) have a strong relationship. The data shows that the longer the pickle sits in vinegar, the smaller it got. With all of the information, the experiment showed that the pickles shrunk more the longer it sat in vinegar.

Benefit to Community and/or Science

People might want to grow pickles in a sealed container that fits the pickles perfectly but because it shrinks it will not fit perfectly anymore and it might affect the pickles freshness .

Background Research

People have been eating pickles ever since the Mesopotamians started making them way back in 2400 B.C.E. Here are some even more important things you should know about them. Pickling requires scrupulously clean conditions, and very fresh fruit. Ideally, the fruit should be pickled within 24 hours of harvest, and not before being carefully washed and, in the case of cucumbers, trimmed. Cucumbers become pickles in two different ways after they are processed for pickling. Cucumber pickles are also made with a special cultivar of cucumber, not regular table cucumbers. This cultivar has a consistent size and a knobbly texture which may be familiar to consumers of whole pickles.

Six Fun Facts on Pickles:

1. In the Pacific Islands, natives pickle their foods in holes in the ground lined with banana leaves, and use them as food reserves in case of storms. The pickles are so valuable that they've become part of the courting process, helping a man prove he'll be able to provide for a woman. In Fiji, guys can't get a girl without first showing her parents his pickle pits.
2. Cleopatra claimed pickles made her beautiful.
3. In the Delta region of Mississippi, Kool-Aid pickles have become ridiculously popular with kids. The recipe's simple: take some dill pickles, cut them in half, and then soak them in super strong Kool-Aid for more than a week. According to the New York Times, the sweet vinegar snacks are known to sell out at fairs and delicatessens, and generally go for $.50 to a $1.4. Not everyone loves a sweet pickle. In America, dill pickles are twice as popular as the sweet variety.5. When the Philadelphia Eagles thrashed the Dallas Cowboys in sweltering heat in September 2000, many of the players attributed their win to one thing: guzzling down immense quantities of ice-cold pickle juice. Mental Floss: 31 unbelievable high school mascots
6. If it weren't for pickles, Christopher Columbus might never have "discovered" America. In his famous 1492 voyage, Columbus rationed pickles to his sailors to keep them from getting scurvy. He even grew cucumbers during a pit stop in Haiti to restock for the rest of the voyage.

References

"12 Fun Facts in Pickled History." CNN. N.p., 07 Aug. 2009. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
"Refrigerator Pickles." How to Make Pickles: Organic Gardening. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.

"Pickled Cucumber." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 26 Mar. 2013.

Abstract

This experiment was done to see if a pickle grows or shrinks when pickled. The specific question was to see if pickling time effected the size of the cucumber. The point was to try to find out how to make a bigger cucumber. The experiment started off by putting five pickles in cups full of vinegar. Then recorded the different pickle sizes circumference. On the first day it measured pickle one on day one. The same with day two, day three, four and five. After day five look at the results and check to see if the pickle changed in growth. If it did the hypothesis was correct and the experiment worked.